Art Direction
Branding & Identity
Consultation
Consumer Goods
Curation
Strategy
Art Direction
Branding & Identity
Consultation
Consumer Goods
Curation
Strategy

Teaching an international corporate giant to navigate the youth culture marketplace.

Situation

Create revolutionary brand and product around an existing substrate while testing a print-on-demand model.

Objective

Create a brand in the youth culture marketplace, allowing Armstrong to lear and test a print-on-demand model while giving the brand exposure to future customers of their mainline flooring products.

Solution

Create a brand, Ascape, the first to provide youth culture, and specifically action sports, with a line of rugs that speak the consumer’s language.

Results

– Outstanding feedback from collectors, consumers & industry insiders.

 

– Cultural validity – by offering a collection of designs from legendary, popular and upcoming artists & photographers from within action sports, Ascape had an instant stamp of approval with finicky consumers.

 

– Press coverage on multiple action sports / youth culture blogs & magazines.

 

– The limited production model of the rugs made them instant collectibles.

Keep scrolling to check out the full story on the project

Teaching an international corporate giant to navigate the youth culture marketplace.

Situation

Create revolutionary brand and product around an existing substrate while testing a print-on-demand model.

Objective

Create a brand in the youth culture marketplace, allowing Armstrong to lear and test a print-on-demand model while giving the brand exposure to future customers of their mainline flooring products.

Solution

Create a brand, Ascape, the first to provide youth culture, and specifically action sports, with a line of rugs that speak the consumer’s language.

Results

– Outstanding feedback from collectors, consumers & industry insiders.
– Cultural validity – by offering a collection of designs from legendary, popular and upcoming artists & photographers from within action sports, Ascape had an instant stamp of approval with finicky consumers.
– Press coverage on multiple action sports / youth culture blogs & magazines.
– The limited production model of the rugs made them instant collectibles.

Keep scrolling to check out the full story on the project

ascape-logo-white

Teaching a multi-billion dollar corporation about youth culture while they test a print on demand business model

Armstrong World Industries, a multi-billion dollar global company, came to Valhalla to help it learn about the youth culture marketplace while working out a print on demand model. We created a fully functioning brand for Armstrong. Working with the team inhouse, we took a blank substrate material from Europe & created a viable brand for American youth to call their own.

 

Our brand creation work was all encompassing. We started with general consultation on the ins & outs of the market and followed through with naming, branding, assembling a collection of designs and creating a website. The end result was a brand and product the market had never seen, setting a new precedent for the rug industry and creating cultural significance within the targeted demographic, allowing consumers to make their college dorms & first apartments their own with unique, artistic “rugs”.
The fiberglass backed material durable enough to withstand constant foot traffic but held print detail well enough to be a wall hanging.  Collaborating with our artist & photographer friends from within action sports to curate quite a collection of artwork for the project.  Many of the designs never even made it to the sales floor, the workers at the test retailers all purchased them as soon as they arrived.

 

The project was a great success, with numerous rugs selling out before they were even accessible to the public. Shop employees bought every Grant Brittain / Chris Miller skateboarding & Jim Phillips skull rug before they even hit the sales floor.
Ascape was chosen for the project, a brandable name meant to represent the escape the buyer would get from their current living situation, whether it be to the mountains, a skatepark or an art gallery, their current living situation no longer bound them. Starting with an A, it left the option to tie it into the Armstrong brand at a later date.

The Collection

 

The curation for the project was a massive task but the end result was amazing. Featuring art from legendary, established & upcoming artists / photographers, in addition to custom Valhalla-designed pattern designs, there was something for everyone.

 

The collection was broken into different collections, featuring legend, established & upcoming artists / photographers. The legend collection featured artwork & photos from Jim Phillips & Grant Brittain. The established collection featured photos & artwork by Tim McKenna, Andy Howell & Andy Jenkins with the upcoming art coming from Ky Baker, Brian Hockenstein & Daniel Blom.
Being part of a full-scale project, the display was a integral part of the equation. The rugs were an odd category for most shops, some may put them in the center of the store, others may put them against the wall in the back. The modular display that we designed would work for any location option. Created from inkjet printed / die cut cardboard, it was reasonable to produce for the test run but looked very good at the same time.

Skull by Jim Phillips

Bar Wars by Jim Phillips

Guitar by Ky Baker


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